cowroof.pages.dev

Frank shu biography

    •

Our colleague, mentor, and friend, Frank H.S. Shu, passed away on 22 April 2023, at home in Atherton, California. He was 79 years old. Taiwan held memorials to celebrate his life and career at the Institute of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Academia Sinica (ASIAA), and the National Tsing Hua University of Taiwan (NTHU). Shu was an extraordinary theoretical astrophysicist, advancing a series of ground-breaking contributions that fundamentally transformed research in stellar dynamics, stellar evolution, the birth of stars, and the formation of planetary systems. Shu inherited a strong sense of scholarship and social responsibility from his father, inspired by examples set by his mentor C.C. Lin. His life was profoundly influenced by his background as an immigrant, a drive to succeed, and an obligation to future generations, tempered by humor.

Open in a new tab

Frank Shu was born in Kunming, China, in 1943 and emigrated to the United States at 5, growing up in the midwest where his father (Shien-siu Shu) was a mathematics professor. Despite taking first grade three times, on thre

    •

Professor Frank Shu

Prof. Frank Shu, Guest Lecturer at the Emilio Segre Distinguished Lectures in Physics Endowed by Raymond and Beverly Sackler for the academic year 2013/2014, is a Professor Emeritus in the Department of physics at the National Tsing Hua University, Taiwan. He is also a Distinguished Research Fellow and a Distinguished Research Scholar at the Institute of Astronomy & Astrophysics, at Academia Sinica (ASIAA, Taiwan).

 

Prof. Shu was born in China and emigrated to the United States at the age of six. He received his Ph.D. in astronomy at Harvard University and held faculty appointments at the Stony Brook University. He joined the University of California, Berkeley and over time became Chairman of the Astronomy Department. Subsequently, he was designated as Chancellor’s Professor. From 1994 to 1996, he was the President of the American Astronomical Society (AAS). During 2002-2006 he served as President of the National Tsing Hua University, in Taiwan. In 2006, he was a designated as a Distinguished Professor at the San Diego University of Califor

    •

Autobiography of
Frank H Shu

I was born in Kunming, China in 1943, the third of four children. In 1949, we emigrated to theUnited States where my father had gone for graduate study shortly after I was born. Thus, almost my entire formal education tookplace in the United States. Although I briefly flirted with the idea of becoming an artist, the launch of Sputnik in 1957 settled the issue of what I was to do in life.

When I was offered a chance to work with Professor C C Lin on a senior physics project at MIT on a novel picture of spiral structure as a density wave, I jumped at the opportunity. The crucial confrontations between theory and observations often take decades to develop in astronomy. How could one succeed in such an environment? Professor Lin’s example was crucial in forming my scientific character: one must be brutally honest with oneself to avoid getting lost in false leads; one must not fear to swim against the tide if one’s ideas and calculations are well-founded; and important problems require a commitment for the long haul, but one should be prepared to make a c

Copyright ©cowroof.pages.dev 2025